There Could Never Be a More Beautiful You

Monday morning we packed everything up from Meme's house, and then we headed for the coast! After 4 stops in the first hour - we needed gas, and we HAD to get pictures at state lines :) - we made pretty good time. Chick-Fil-A in Birmingham was fun trying to order. V kept pointing at something he wanted, but we could NOT figure out what it was. The tablet wouldn't connect to the wireless, and we couldn't get the dictionary to work without it. Finally, I ordered him a salad with mayonnaise.  He was happy with that, and the thing he wanted was the waffle fries!  We had plenty of those, so it was all good :)  He definitely knows the word for fries, now!  We got to Aunt M and Uncle J's house and had pizza.
The first week I was a little concerned that he wasn't learning any English, but I can see that it's starting to click for him, now. He's learning more words every day, and he tries to teach them to me in Ukrainian.  They usually go in one ear and out the other :)  He continues to be super helpful with the girls, so good about saying thank you for things, and he is such an easy-going kid! He and A get along like brothers - playing and also arguing some, too.  We just continue to love on him as much as we can!

Today, we went to the thrift store and got him a jacket. I think the poor kid is freezing in all this air conditioning! At first I was thinking he may not find what he wanted because he had seen one at Target that he liked.  He's so easy to please and just really wanted a jacket - not particular about it looking a certain way.  Adding a pair of jeans made his day!

Later, we went to the Gulfport Children's Museum where fun was had by all!  Though I must say, children's museums are best conquered with a 1 to 1 adult to kid ratio because they go ALL directions. Good thing Aunt M was with us! V ran very quickly from exhibit to exhibit just wanting to see it all! Then, he went back to play once he realized we had more time.
For dinner, he ate spaghetti noodles with ketchup - ewwwwwwwwww.  I had been warned that this was common, though, so I wasn't really surprised!  When we got back to the house, he and A played Just Dance for quite a while. Aunt M joined in some, too :)

He is SUCH a sweet, special kid who can just melt your heart with his smile. We are starting to see more of his personality and likes/dislikes as he gets more comfortable with us. Please pray for his future and whatever God has in store for him. Pray that he feels loved and can see God's love for him through his experiences here.  Pray for us as we are definitely far from perfect, and ask that we could be the best that we possibly can be for him. He told N: "He really enjoys his "pretend family" in America, and is dreaming of having a real one of his own. He said that in the orphanage he is always worried about what will happen tomorrow, and here he is safe and feels content having fun and enjoying life."  Thank you so much for your prayers for this precious boy.